Post 18 choices

There are a variety of options available ranging from School Leavers Schemes to apprenticeships or simply going straight into employment. It’s your choice!

School Leaver Schemes

These are seen as the middle-ground between full-time employment and higher education. They provide the opportunity to learn and train with a large company while earning a wage. Offered in sectors like accountancy, banking, business, technology, and retail. These programmes last anywhere between one to five years, structure depending on company working for.

All programmes have the following defining features:

• Employed on a part-time or full-time basis
• A nationally recognised qualification: a Higher National Certificate, Higher National Diploma or Foundation Degree
• You will earn a salary and get paid for study periods, combine work placement with study blocks agreed with employer and can be either at a training provider, college, or university

• Location: you may rotate between different locations with the same company to get experience and it can include distance learning or time in college or university
• Duration: 1 to 4 years
• Entry requirements: each scheme has their own requirement, usually 3 A levels grades may range from AAB to BBC, UCAS points or equivalent, and a keen interest in the sector you want to work in.
• Qualifications: a university degree and, or professional qualification
• Leads to: professional employment
• Find out more: directly from company websites
• School Leaver Apprenticeships 2023 (ratemyapprenticeship.co.uk)